Sounders are red hot despite odd July schedule

Entering July, the Sounders were sitting in 8th place and a point behind the LA Galaxy for the last playoff spot; three wins, and nine points later, Seattle is in fifth place in the Western Conference.

The craziest of these wins was the come-from-behind win against DC United on July 19th in Seattle, Wash. Seattle erased a 3-0 in 27 minutes, with the go-ahead goal being scored by Cristian Roldan in the 78th minute.

It was a historic comeback that didn’t really get started until head coach Brian Schmetzer began to use his bench. Once Kelvin Leerdam and Nouhou Tolo were subbed in, the Sounders level of play improved. Credit should also go to goalkeeper Tyler Miller, who started in place of the injured Stefan Frei; while he (and the defense) allowed three goals, the shut down DC’s offensive attack in the second half to give Seattle’s attack a chance to make the comeback.

As for the other two wins, they haven’t been nearly as exciting. The Sounders picked up a 3-0 win over San Jose on July 23rd, and they picked up a 3-1 win over Colorado back on the 4th of July.

In their three July wins, the Sounders have averaged 3.3 goals a match, while allowing 1.3. The defense’s performance is even more impressive when you consider the fact that it’s worst performance — the three goals United scored — came with the team’s back-up goalkeeper in the net; and even then, they completely shut down DC’s offensive attack in the second half.

Seattle’s defense is going to be a major part of any run the team is going to make in the second half of the season. Which makes this winning streak is encouraging as it is.